Thursday, May 31, 2018--Montreal
After getting to the Metro via the local bus, I went 9 stops by train to the center of town where I started my sightseeing for the day. Coming up from the train, I allowed myself to just wander (get lost) in the tunnels under downtown Montreal for a while. They were rather new and not very long when I first came to Montreal over 30 years ago, but now they run for 33 km (about 20 miles) connecting buildings that are above them. It's the same concept as the tunnels in Houston, but for the opposite reason--in Houston they are for staying out of the heat as one moves around downtown, whereas in Montreal they are for staying out of the cold and the snow. They represent a version of a shopping mall in grid format with shops along the whole route. Finally, I saw a sign pointing out the Fairmont Hotel, so I exited through its lobby.
The first stop was the Mary Queen of the World Cathedral which is a scaled down version of St. Peter's Church in Rome. As with the Roman church, the alter was very impressive. Otherwise, this version lakes all the special artwork such as the Pieta by Michelangelo.
The next place was a church across a grassy plaza which was much smaller but was far more interesting--St. George's Anglican Church. It is a pretty building, but what made it more interesting than any church I have visited in ages is that they have signs throughout the church telling what that section is called, what its purpose is, and what is historical within that section of the church. I wandered around the 11 stations reading those signs and learning so much. For instance, on the pews, there was a sign that explained that family names are on them because when it was originally built, there was a pew charge to help support the costs of the church. Richer families were willing to pay higher pew charges to be in a better, more prominent location, and even those with pews at the back were proving they were rich enough to afford one. On the sign for the choir loft, it further explained that during the days of the pew charges, that balcony of the church was for everyone else who couldn't afford a family pew to sit for church services. A lady who helped me find the entrance to the church explained to me also that they were preparing lunch today for homeless people (as they do each Thursday) and that they also have a day in which they provide a meal for Muslims so that Christians and Muslims and mix and get to know each other. I was very impressed with the place.
The part of Rue St. Catherine near these churches is the main shopping district in the downtown. For blocks, there are all the major stores--H&M, Esprit, Louis Vuitton, MAC, etc. An old department store along the street is Ogilvy which has been known for its grand interior, its Tudor Hall music room with a grand organ, and its mechanical Christmas window displays (which they discontinued just recently when Louis Vuitton moved into the corner section of the store where they were always displayed). Ogilvy has been bought by the owners of the luxury store chain Holt-Renfrew and is going through an extensive enlargement and remodeling plan that will turn it into a 250,000 sq. ft. Holt-Renfrew Ogilvy and add a Four Seasons Hotel (163 rooms at $600 and up a night) and 16 private residences ($4-20 million each) above it.
From there, I headed to McGill University, the preeminent university in Canada. It is an old campus that is being upgraded with modern buildings. And today was commencement day. Students were wearing caps and gowns and taking photos as the ceremony continued inside large tents on the campus lawn. It was amazing to see how many of the graduates were Middle Easterners, Chinese, and Indians. It was also interesting to see a very young man wearing a doctoral gown; he couldn't have been more than 24 or 25. But I was only 27 when I got my doctorate. Young people today just look so YOUNG!!
Leaving the campus, I went down Rue Prince Arthur which is an area where many students live and then becomes an area with very expensive looking townhouses and townhouse mansions. I turned up Blvd. St. Laurent which is the major north/south street in Montreal. It goes for miles with stores, restaurants, bars, etc. I headed up it because I was going to St. Viateur Bagel Shop which operates 24 hours a day. They make Montreal-style bagels which means they are boiled in honey water and then baked in a wood-fired oven. A couple recently opened a Montreal-style bagel shop in San Antonio. I wanted to see what they were like. The baker recommended the sesame seed bagel which had just come out of the oven and cost 90 cents Canadian (70 cents US) while still warm. It was good. It is more like a pretzel in the US than the typical New York bagel, because it is dry and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside instead of being chewy and soft all the way through. (The same bagel costs $1.95 US at Boss Bagels in the San Antonio, so the owners are making a killing compared to what they would have made in Montreal.)
I was tired by then and only a short distance from my home metro stop. I walked there and got on the 197 bus which was leaving in 8 minutes. That brought me back to the corner with my apartment only 1/4 of a block away.
After watching TV for a while, I made dinner--spiral pasta with Italian sausage sauce and sliced olives. I had it with a glass of Smoky Bay Australian Cabernet-Merlot while sitting on the patio enjoying the warm weather and watching the neighbors. Now I will watch a film on Netflix.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
A Quiet Day in the Neighborhood after a Worrisome Evening
Wednesday, May 30, 2018--Montreal
Last night after I returned to the apartment, I got word that a raccoon was in my condo in San Antonio. My sister had discovered it and was trying to handle the problem. She had spent all day after a first call to my management company trying to contact them again with 5 phone calls and an email and no response. That's typical for property management companies. If you look up their ratings online, the best tend to be about 2 out of 5!! I contacted the president and the treasurer of my homeowner's association, and they dealt with it immediately during the evening--calling a company which caught the critter and removed it. But now I have to deal with the damage and the mess when I return home this weekend.
I had trouble sleeping during the evening because of worries about how bad the situation will be when I get back. Therefore, I was tired all day today. Instead of going out, I stayed inside most of the day. I did go to the grocery store to buy a few items around 14:00. But I watched two films on Netflix, I read news on the Internet, etc., to pass the time. Tomorrow, although there is a chance of rain in the early afternoon, I will go back out again to see more sights.
Last night after I returned to the apartment, I got word that a raccoon was in my condo in San Antonio. My sister had discovered it and was trying to handle the problem. She had spent all day after a first call to my management company trying to contact them again with 5 phone calls and an email and no response. That's typical for property management companies. If you look up their ratings online, the best tend to be about 2 out of 5!! I contacted the president and the treasurer of my homeowner's association, and they dealt with it immediately during the evening--calling a company which caught the critter and removed it. But now I have to deal with the damage and the mess when I return home this weekend.
I had trouble sleeping during the evening because of worries about how bad the situation will be when I get back. Therefore, I was tired all day today. Instead of going out, I stayed inside most of the day. I did go to the grocery store to buy a few items around 14:00. But I watched two films on Netflix, I read news on the Internet, etc., to pass the time. Tomorrow, although there is a chance of rain in the early afternoon, I will go back out again to see more sights.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Out in Montreal Twice Today
Tuesday, May 29, 2018--Montreal
The sun comes out early here this time of the year. I was awakened by it around 5:00. I went back to sleep, but I was awake again at 6:00. I just decided to get up and make my breakfast.
I had slow-boiled two large white potatoes last night until they were barely cooked through. I sliced one of them and put the pieces in a skillet with butter to fry. Then I sliced half of a large onion and put it in the same skillet with the potatoes after they had cooked a while. Adding the onions later assures that the potatoes will be toasty/crusty on the outside and the onions will be soft and sweet tasting. I put that mixture on a plate while I fried two eggs. Then I ate it all after salting and peppering it. That's a common breakfast I make when traveling because it is easy and uses only limited ingredients. Afterward, I had a mug of hot chocolate and a banana.
I had a day of sightseeing planned. But when I arrived at the metro station and got on the train, I realized I had forgotten to bring my camera. (Normally, I bring a small shoulder bag on trips to keep my camera, my guidebook info, etc., as I wander. But since most of this trip was going to be by car I didn't pack it. Now I wish I had. My pockets were loaded to day with the camera, my wallet, my cell phone and folded guidebook pages!) Rather than make the trip back to the apartment (45 min. to an hour round-trip), I just decided to go to my first stop which wasn't for sightseeing. It was to the station where I will catch the bus to the airport early Saturday morning. I wanted to know the station and to find the bus stop in advance.
Because several metro lines form a "circle" around the central area of Montreal, I decided I would just follow the circle getting off at each transfer stop to see what was in the neighborhood, and return to the apartment when I got back to the local stop. Only the last transfer stop, Jean-Talon, proved interesting. It is a busy commercial area and has a huge market named after the area. The market was very busy at 12:00 with people sitting at tables eating prepared foods, others shopping for plants and herbs for their gardens, etc.
When I got back to my station, the sign showed it would be 23 minutes until a bus would depart (although they are supposed to leave about every 12-13 minutes). I decided to walk. I reached my street in 27 minutes, and there was still no sign of a bus coming from the metro station. I did, however, meet 3 buses during that time headed toward the metro station. So the schedule was way off and creating a problem.
After resting and writing some emails, I headed back out to see some of the spots I had intended to visit this morning. I took the metro to Place D'Armes which is the center of the old historical district of the city. I didn't visit the Cathedral there, because there were lines and I can go back another day, but I wandered the streets and looked at specific buildings I had identified as being of interest to me:
The Bank of Montreal Lobby
The mock-medieval Seminaire de St-Sulpice with the oldest public clock in North America which has been chiming regularly since 1701
The Aldred building which is Art Deco style
The old Montreal Stock Exchange which is now a theater
Rue St-Paul which is an old cobble stoned street
Place Jacque Cartier
Chateau Ramezay which houses a museum
Maison Pierre du Calvet which is being restored
Then, I walked southwestward along the Old Port (Vieux-Port) and then along the Lachine Canal which used to be very busy transporting goods to the port from the factories and the grain elevators which line one side of it and currently lie in ruins waiting for redevelopment as residential structures. That took me to the edge of Griffintown which is an old Irish section of the city that is now trendy and a focal point for gentrification by young, style-conscious residents.
I was exhausted by that point, so I headed back to the apartment. I just repeated what I had for dinner last night. I still had some leftover baguette (a little tougher, but okay tonight), salami, and wine. I had that for dinner on the back balcony. Then I pulled out the computer to type this entry. It's another beautiful day here in Montreal, and I am sitting here only in shorts--no shirt, no shoes--and comfortable!
The sun comes out early here this time of the year. I was awakened by it around 5:00. I went back to sleep, but I was awake again at 6:00. I just decided to get up and make my breakfast.
I had slow-boiled two large white potatoes last night until they were barely cooked through. I sliced one of them and put the pieces in a skillet with butter to fry. Then I sliced half of a large onion and put it in the same skillet with the potatoes after they had cooked a while. Adding the onions later assures that the potatoes will be toasty/crusty on the outside and the onions will be soft and sweet tasting. I put that mixture on a plate while I fried two eggs. Then I ate it all after salting and peppering it. That's a common breakfast I make when traveling because it is easy and uses only limited ingredients. Afterward, I had a mug of hot chocolate and a banana.
I had a day of sightseeing planned. But when I arrived at the metro station and got on the train, I realized I had forgotten to bring my camera. (Normally, I bring a small shoulder bag on trips to keep my camera, my guidebook info, etc., as I wander. But since most of this trip was going to be by car I didn't pack it. Now I wish I had. My pockets were loaded to day with the camera, my wallet, my cell phone and folded guidebook pages!) Rather than make the trip back to the apartment (45 min. to an hour round-trip), I just decided to go to my first stop which wasn't for sightseeing. It was to the station where I will catch the bus to the airport early Saturday morning. I wanted to know the station and to find the bus stop in advance.
Because several metro lines form a "circle" around the central area of Montreal, I decided I would just follow the circle getting off at each transfer stop to see what was in the neighborhood, and return to the apartment when I got back to the local stop. Only the last transfer stop, Jean-Talon, proved interesting. It is a busy commercial area and has a huge market named after the area. The market was very busy at 12:00 with people sitting at tables eating prepared foods, others shopping for plants and herbs for their gardens, etc.
When I got back to my station, the sign showed it would be 23 minutes until a bus would depart (although they are supposed to leave about every 12-13 minutes). I decided to walk. I reached my street in 27 minutes, and there was still no sign of a bus coming from the metro station. I did, however, meet 3 buses during that time headed toward the metro station. So the schedule was way off and creating a problem.
After resting and writing some emails, I headed back out to see some of the spots I had intended to visit this morning. I took the metro to Place D'Armes which is the center of the old historical district of the city. I didn't visit the Cathedral there, because there were lines and I can go back another day, but I wandered the streets and looked at specific buildings I had identified as being of interest to me:
The Bank of Montreal Lobby
The mock-medieval Seminaire de St-Sulpice with the oldest public clock in North America which has been chiming regularly since 1701
The Aldred building which is Art Deco style
The old Montreal Stock Exchange which is now a theater
Rue St-Paul which is an old cobble stoned street
Place Jacque Cartier
Chateau Ramezay which houses a museum
Maison Pierre du Calvet which is being restored
Then, I walked southwestward along the Old Port (Vieux-Port) and then along the Lachine Canal which used to be very busy transporting goods to the port from the factories and the grain elevators which line one side of it and currently lie in ruins waiting for redevelopment as residential structures. That took me to the edge of Griffintown which is an old Irish section of the city that is now trendy and a focal point for gentrification by young, style-conscious residents.
I was exhausted by that point, so I headed back to the apartment. I just repeated what I had for dinner last night. I still had some leftover baguette (a little tougher, but okay tonight), salami, and wine. I had that for dinner on the back balcony. Then I pulled out the computer to type this entry. It's another beautiful day here in Montreal, and I am sitting here only in shorts--no shirt, no shoes--and comfortable!
Monday, May 28, 2018
Settled Into My Own Apartment
Monday, May 28, 2018--Montreal
Wes left the hotel about 7:50 this morning to catch a bus to the airport. The first of his 3 flights was scheduled at 11:00. He should have plenty of time here, since the bus only takes a little over an hour to get to the airport. Hope he makes his two connections--in Toronto and in Houston. When I leave, I will only have one connection in Houston, but I will have to be at the airport EARLY since my first flight is scheduled at 9:05!
When I left the hotel at 8:50, I expected to have plenty of time to reach the apartment by 10:00 even if I had an unexpected delay or difficult time finding the place. But one of the two delays I encountered was a truly unexpected one that meant having to perform something technically illegal to get to where I needed to be.
First, I had bought an OPUS transportation card Saturday. That's the chip card where you load fares to be able to ride the buses and metro by slapping the card against a panel. I needed to renew it to become a weekly card today, since their weekly cards only run from Monday through Sunday. (Too bad, because a 7-day weekly card from Saturday afternoon would have met all my needs for the trip if they could start any day of the week.) I thought it would go as smoothly today to add the weekly pass as when I bought the card with a 1-day pass recorded on it Saturday. But I couldn't figure out where to place the card in a slot for it to be refreshed. Fortunately, some Hispanic women who speak English walked up behind me and showed me how to do it. So it took about 5 minutes longer to get the card refreshed than it should have.
But then, the big problem occurred. When I slapped the card at the turnstile, it kept giving me a red light. And no one was working at the manned booth there. I tried and tried with time passing. Finally, knowing I was too far from my destination to walk, I just pushed my bag under the turnstile and them crawled under it myself!! ( Although this was technically illegal to do, I wasn't too worried. I had my receipt that showed I had just bought a weekly pass, since the rules say you must get your receipt and show it to the people who do random checks to make sure passengers have made a valid payment for the trip. But I was worried that they might speak only French if anyone caught me.) All went well, though, and when I got to my end station there was a man in the booth. I realized I still had time to reach the apartment, so I asked if he spoke English and explained what had happened. He checked my card and said that I had a valid weekly pass. Then he asked me to put it on one of the turnstiles there to test it, and the light turned green. I don't know if there was a timed delay after purchase before the computer connected to the turnstiles would recognize the card or if something just went wrong the first time I tried to use it and then it wouldn't accept my card afterward at that same station (as if I were trying to let someone piggyback on my card). Anyway, that problem was out of the way now so I can use my card the rest of the week.
I could have caught a bus from the metro station to the apartment, but I wanted to walk to determine the time it would take. As I wrote above, I have to leave on Saturday at a very early hour to catch a bus to the airport. The first metro run is at 5:48 from my station, and the buses start at 5:30 and aren't reliable enough for me to want to take one to the metro station; I would rather walk and be there on time for sure. It took me 30 minutes at a medium pace with my luggage this morning. So Saturday, going fast, I should be able to get there in plenty of time if I leave the apartment at 5:15. And that metro will get me to a stop half-way to the airport where I can transfer to the next departing airport bus. I should arrive at the terminal with 1 1/2 to 2 hours remaining before my flight.
After my two delays and the stop to check my card at my final metro stop, I actually still arrived early at the apartment--at 9:40 instead of 10:00. Just after I got here, the woman who owns the apartment was coming out of her apartment below to bring up towels and a bath mat, so she greeted me and told me to come on up. She already had the place clean with the bed made. I am staying at the "Hey, I'm Berangere!" apartment on Airbnb. It is exactly as it looks in the online photos. It's very clean and comfortable. And the owner lives in the apartment below me in case I need to contact her about anything.
Today, I am relaxing. Mondays are slow days for things to do anyway. I will go to the supermarket to buy some milk, eggs, meat, bread, etc., for having breakfast and dinner here at the apartment. I will check out the places in the neighborhood just to see what it is like. I'm looking forward to feeling like a local resident for a few days.
____________
In the middle of the afternoon, I went to a grocery store to buy some things. Then I read through my Montreal literature to decide what to see in the next few days.
This neighborhood consists of townhouses with 2-3 apartments per townhouse. There is a small yard in front of each which is generally not maintained well; some are even bricked over and most others have weeds. Most people seem to live in their back yards which are larger and often having lawn furniture. My apartment has two balconies--one looking out over the front street which seems to be unused and another with a small table and chairs off the kitchen overlooking the back yards and the alley.
About 6:30, I opened a bottle of wine, sliced part of a French baguette, spread the slices with butter, and put some salami on them. I sat at the table on the back balcony planning for the food to be an appetizer before making dinner. But it was so good that I decided to make that my dinner and made some more.
It was sunny and warm out there. And the back alley is really the active area for locals to move about. I've seen people going up and down it all day. While I was eating and relaxing there, some children were playing in the alley, a couple was relaxing on their patio across the way, and other people were coming and going from their homes. It was pleasant just to watch what everyone was doing and made me feel like a part of the neighborhood.
In the evening, I connected my computer to the TV and watched a Netflix film. Now it is about 22:15, and I am going to bed for the night.
Wes left the hotel about 7:50 this morning to catch a bus to the airport. The first of his 3 flights was scheduled at 11:00. He should have plenty of time here, since the bus only takes a little over an hour to get to the airport. Hope he makes his two connections--in Toronto and in Houston. When I leave, I will only have one connection in Houston, but I will have to be at the airport EARLY since my first flight is scheduled at 9:05!
When I left the hotel at 8:50, I expected to have plenty of time to reach the apartment by 10:00 even if I had an unexpected delay or difficult time finding the place. But one of the two delays I encountered was a truly unexpected one that meant having to perform something technically illegal to get to where I needed to be.
First, I had bought an OPUS transportation card Saturday. That's the chip card where you load fares to be able to ride the buses and metro by slapping the card against a panel. I needed to renew it to become a weekly card today, since their weekly cards only run from Monday through Sunday. (Too bad, because a 7-day weekly card from Saturday afternoon would have met all my needs for the trip if they could start any day of the week.) I thought it would go as smoothly today to add the weekly pass as when I bought the card with a 1-day pass recorded on it Saturday. But I couldn't figure out where to place the card in a slot for it to be refreshed. Fortunately, some Hispanic women who speak English walked up behind me and showed me how to do it. So it took about 5 minutes longer to get the card refreshed than it should have.
But then, the big problem occurred. When I slapped the card at the turnstile, it kept giving me a red light. And no one was working at the manned booth there. I tried and tried with time passing. Finally, knowing I was too far from my destination to walk, I just pushed my bag under the turnstile and them crawled under it myself!! ( Although this was technically illegal to do, I wasn't too worried. I had my receipt that showed I had just bought a weekly pass, since the rules say you must get your receipt and show it to the people who do random checks to make sure passengers have made a valid payment for the trip. But I was worried that they might speak only French if anyone caught me.) All went well, though, and when I got to my end station there was a man in the booth. I realized I still had time to reach the apartment, so I asked if he spoke English and explained what had happened. He checked my card and said that I had a valid weekly pass. Then he asked me to put it on one of the turnstiles there to test it, and the light turned green. I don't know if there was a timed delay after purchase before the computer connected to the turnstiles would recognize the card or if something just went wrong the first time I tried to use it and then it wouldn't accept my card afterward at that same station (as if I were trying to let someone piggyback on my card). Anyway, that problem was out of the way now so I can use my card the rest of the week.
I could have caught a bus from the metro station to the apartment, but I wanted to walk to determine the time it would take. As I wrote above, I have to leave on Saturday at a very early hour to catch a bus to the airport. The first metro run is at 5:48 from my station, and the buses start at 5:30 and aren't reliable enough for me to want to take one to the metro station; I would rather walk and be there on time for sure. It took me 30 minutes at a medium pace with my luggage this morning. So Saturday, going fast, I should be able to get there in plenty of time if I leave the apartment at 5:15. And that metro will get me to a stop half-way to the airport where I can transfer to the next departing airport bus. I should arrive at the terminal with 1 1/2 to 2 hours remaining before my flight.
After my two delays and the stop to check my card at my final metro stop, I actually still arrived early at the apartment--at 9:40 instead of 10:00. Just after I got here, the woman who owns the apartment was coming out of her apartment below to bring up towels and a bath mat, so she greeted me and told me to come on up. She already had the place clean with the bed made. I am staying at the "Hey, I'm Berangere!" apartment on Airbnb. It is exactly as it looks in the online photos. It's very clean and comfortable. And the owner lives in the apartment below me in case I need to contact her about anything.
Today, I am relaxing. Mondays are slow days for things to do anyway. I will go to the supermarket to buy some milk, eggs, meat, bread, etc., for having breakfast and dinner here at the apartment. I will check out the places in the neighborhood just to see what it is like. I'm looking forward to feeling like a local resident for a few days.
____________
In the middle of the afternoon, I went to a grocery store to buy some things. Then I read through my Montreal literature to decide what to see in the next few days.
This neighborhood consists of townhouses with 2-3 apartments per townhouse. There is a small yard in front of each which is generally not maintained well; some are even bricked over and most others have weeds. Most people seem to live in their back yards which are larger and often having lawn furniture. My apartment has two balconies--one looking out over the front street which seems to be unused and another with a small table and chairs off the kitchen overlooking the back yards and the alley.
About 6:30, I opened a bottle of wine, sliced part of a French baguette, spread the slices with butter, and put some salami on them. I sat at the table on the back balcony planning for the food to be an appetizer before making dinner. But it was so good that I decided to make that my dinner and made some more.
It was sunny and warm out there. And the back alley is really the active area for locals to move about. I've seen people going up and down it all day. While I was eating and relaxing there, some children were playing in the alley, a couple was relaxing on their patio across the way, and other people were coming and going from their homes. It was pleasant just to watch what everyone was doing and made me feel like a part of the neighborhood.
In the evening, I connected my computer to the TV and watched a Netflix film. Now it is about 22:15, and I am going to bed for the night.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Sunday in Montreal
Sunday, May 27, 2018--Montreal
Today just happened to be Free Museum Day in Montreal with most museums having free admission. I had told Wes that since I would be here for 5 more days we would do whatever he wanted to do today, and he chose to try to see some museums while they where free. Therefore, we made a plan to go to three museums.
We headed to a nearby bus stop to catch a bus that would take us to the first museum, the Montreal Science Center. That experience of getting there taught me that while here I need to try to use the Metro vs. buses. It was a slow Sunday morning, but the bus arrived empty and 15 minutes late. Then the driver left to go to a toilet or somewhere and came back about 20 minutes later. So we lost some time due to the bus being far off schedule. When we left, it was only about 10 minutes until the next bus was due to arrive at that stop!
What we didn't know about Free Museum Day was how this system works at most of the museums. It's common to let lines form and to admit only a few people at a time. At the science museum, there were maybe 200 people in line ahead of us. And after waiting 10 minutes or so, no one from the line had been admitted. We had already seen a long line outside a museum on our way to there on the bus. So we quickly abandoned the plan to visit museums and headed out to explore town.
We wandered down a section of Rue Notre-Dame which is a brick street with small shops--a very quaint and old area of the center of town. Then we went to the nearby Town Hall to see it from the outside. At that point, we decided to take the Metro line from there to the stop nearest the last museum we had planned to visit. We thought it would be a way to explore another part of town and just check on the possibility of getting into the Museum of Fine Arts.
The area where we got off the Metro is a very fine one with Rue Sherbrooke being lined with exclusive stores, many fine old mansions still in existence, new office buildings, very exclusive apartment buildings, and new and old hotels including the Ritz Carlton. Fortunately, when we got to the museum, people were walking right in. That is probably because this is a HUGE museum, because families with small children were choosing other museums, and because some persons interested in art were choosing smaller museums that they normally miss due to high admission prices.
Anyway, we spent about 2 1/2 hours in the museum. It has a very nice collection that mainly consists of art from impressionism to the present (with a big section related to more recent art) plus special halls related to art produced by Inuits, Montreal artists, etc.
When we came out, it was about 13:45, so we went into a Subway sandwich shop to eat before checking on another museum. However, it started raining about the time we were leaving there. We decided to abandon plans to go to another museum and to take the metro back to our hotel until the rain passed. Both of us used that time to do some research related to our travel plans for tomorrow--Wes' trip back to Texas and my move the the Airbnb apartment I have rented. I also did some research related to getting to the airport early next Saturday morning, since my plane leaves at 9:05.
By late afternoon, there was no more rain and the sun was peaking out some. Wes announced that he was going out for about 2 hours. After he left, I decided to go out, too, rather than just sit in the room. I explored the area near our hotel beyond what we had already seen. Tomorrow, I will move about 4 miles away to another neighborhood, so I figured it was best to explore this area more thoroughly before leaving it. It's a nice district mostly filled with lots of people. But one thing that stands out and is true about inner city areas of most major metro areas like this is the number of beggars, number of people who seem to have some mental illness problems, and number of people who may be drug users. Both of us got back to the hotel around 7:15 or so, and we just stayed inside for the rest of the night.
Today just happened to be Free Museum Day in Montreal with most museums having free admission. I had told Wes that since I would be here for 5 more days we would do whatever he wanted to do today, and he chose to try to see some museums while they where free. Therefore, we made a plan to go to three museums.
We headed to a nearby bus stop to catch a bus that would take us to the first museum, the Montreal Science Center. That experience of getting there taught me that while here I need to try to use the Metro vs. buses. It was a slow Sunday morning, but the bus arrived empty and 15 minutes late. Then the driver left to go to a toilet or somewhere and came back about 20 minutes later. So we lost some time due to the bus being far off schedule. When we left, it was only about 10 minutes until the next bus was due to arrive at that stop!
What we didn't know about Free Museum Day was how this system works at most of the museums. It's common to let lines form and to admit only a few people at a time. At the science museum, there were maybe 200 people in line ahead of us. And after waiting 10 minutes or so, no one from the line had been admitted. We had already seen a long line outside a museum on our way to there on the bus. So we quickly abandoned the plan to visit museums and headed out to explore town.
We wandered down a section of Rue Notre-Dame which is a brick street with small shops--a very quaint and old area of the center of town. Then we went to the nearby Town Hall to see it from the outside. At that point, we decided to take the Metro line from there to the stop nearest the last museum we had planned to visit. We thought it would be a way to explore another part of town and just check on the possibility of getting into the Museum of Fine Arts.
The area where we got off the Metro is a very fine one with Rue Sherbrooke being lined with exclusive stores, many fine old mansions still in existence, new office buildings, very exclusive apartment buildings, and new and old hotels including the Ritz Carlton. Fortunately, when we got to the museum, people were walking right in. That is probably because this is a HUGE museum, because families with small children were choosing other museums, and because some persons interested in art were choosing smaller museums that they normally miss due to high admission prices.
Anyway, we spent about 2 1/2 hours in the museum. It has a very nice collection that mainly consists of art from impressionism to the present (with a big section related to more recent art) plus special halls related to art produced by Inuits, Montreal artists, etc.
When we came out, it was about 13:45, so we went into a Subway sandwich shop to eat before checking on another museum. However, it started raining about the time we were leaving there. We decided to abandon plans to go to another museum and to take the metro back to our hotel until the rain passed. Both of us used that time to do some research related to our travel plans for tomorrow--Wes' trip back to Texas and my move the the Airbnb apartment I have rented. I also did some research related to getting to the airport early next Saturday morning, since my plane leaves at 9:05.
By late afternoon, there was no more rain and the sun was peaking out some. Wes announced that he was going out for about 2 hours. After he left, I decided to go out, too, rather than just sit in the room. I explored the area near our hotel beyond what we had already seen. Tomorrow, I will move about 4 miles away to another neighborhood, so I figured it was best to explore this area more thoroughly before leaving it. It's a nice district mostly filled with lots of people. But one thing that stands out and is true about inner city areas of most major metro areas like this is the number of beggars, number of people who seem to have some mental illness problems, and number of people who may be drug users. Both of us got back to the hotel around 7:15 or so, and we just stayed inside for the rest of the night.
Traveling Back to Montreal--Our Last Stop
Saturday, May 26, 2018--Quebec City to Montreal via Trois Riveres
It was another sunny and warm day as we slowly made our way from Quebec City to Montreal. We left the hotel around 10:00. About 11:30, we arrived in Trois Riveres, a very nice town on the St. Lawrence River. It's an old town with some really nice older churches, schools, homes, etc. from the 1700s and 1800s. And it has a large downtown area indicating that it has been a large town for some time--a downtown that is much larger than one might expect for a metro area of 126,000 people. We pulled off to see the campus of the University of Quebec at Trois Riveres. It's a rather simple and fairly new campus. Then we walked the downtown area and its nearby historical areas. Finally, on the way out of town, we stopped at Costco to buy gasoline and to eat a quick hot dog.
We arrived in Montreal about 15:00. It is a big city with lots of road construction. We were quite tired when we arrived at the hotel--Wes from driving and me from navigating the whole way. Wes drove our car down the VERY NARROW driveway to the back of the hotel and maneuvered it into a parking space, and we got our room at the Hotel St. Andre. It's an unusual room called a double-double. What they have done is to create larger rooms by removing the wall between two rooms. So our room has two beds, two bathrooms, and two doors (although one is closed permanently) to the hallway. It's really rather nice.
The location of the hotel couldn't be better. Just half a block from it is the "hot" street in town--the section of St. Catherine Street called the Gay Village which actually serves as the entertainment area for all of Montreal with bars, clubs, theaters, restaurants, etc. The street has hanging strings of balls in various colors to create a long distance color pattern of a rainbow flag. And further up St. Catherine is the opera house, the CAM, and other major destinations.
After settling into the room, we went walking along both stretches of St. Catherine Street. Because it was warm and sunny and Saturday, crowds were out and the sidewalk tables were full. There were bachelorette and bachelor parties wandering up and down the street along with a mix of all kinds of people. It was just a day for people to be out among and watching other people while enjoying the great weather.
We needed to return our rental car to the airport, so we returned to the hotel to leave. First, it was difficult to get the car out of the back parking lot. I had to stand in front and give Wes directions to become aligned with the extra narrow lane between our building and the one next door. Then someone started to try to drive in off the street and I had to stop them (since we couldn't back up through that area). Eventually, we got out and on our way with cars backing up on the street behind the lady we asked to wait to enter until we were out.
It took about 40 minutes to get to the airport because of heavy traffic and detours caused by the rebuilding of the expressway (Hwy 20) that goes out there. When we finally arrived, we went to a nearby gas station to fill up only to find that it was closed. I used my phone to locate another gas station about a mile away, and we went there. Fortunately, it was open. But when we arrived at the rental car lot, the entrance was blocked by a large truck and it looked closed. Wes went to the office and found they were in the process of closing for the day. The car wasn't due for another hour, but rather than stay later and check us in, they asked us to take the car to the Park and Pay lot and leave it there. So we had to find that location and leave the car there. Fortunately, they were familiar with the process, and it went smoothly. Also, their van gave us a ride to the terminal where we bought bus tickets to return to town. But the bus had to deal with the same detours and expressway reconstruction that we had faced going out there. So about 2 1/2 hours after leaving the hotel to go to the airport, we made it back to the hotel. What an exhausting experience it had been!!
We still walked the nearby section of St. Catherine again before coming to the room. It was still active. Only the shops were closed. The bars, clubs, theaters, etc., were very alive with people enjoying the slightly cool, but still shirtsleeve, weather of the evening.
We were back in the hotel by 21:00 and ready by bed an hour later. It had been a long day.
Note: We had traveled slightly over 6000 km in the car. That's about 3750 miles!! It was way too much driving. I would recommend that anyone coming up this way make it into two trips--one for Montreal and Quebec City and another, flying into Halifax, for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick with the New Brunswick portion restricted only to the coastal area near Nova Scotia.
It was another sunny and warm day as we slowly made our way from Quebec City to Montreal. We left the hotel around 10:00. About 11:30, we arrived in Trois Riveres, a very nice town on the St. Lawrence River. It's an old town with some really nice older churches, schools, homes, etc. from the 1700s and 1800s. And it has a large downtown area indicating that it has been a large town for some time--a downtown that is much larger than one might expect for a metro area of 126,000 people. We pulled off to see the campus of the University of Quebec at Trois Riveres. It's a rather simple and fairly new campus. Then we walked the downtown area and its nearby historical areas. Finally, on the way out of town, we stopped at Costco to buy gasoline and to eat a quick hot dog.
We arrived in Montreal about 15:00. It is a big city with lots of road construction. We were quite tired when we arrived at the hotel--Wes from driving and me from navigating the whole way. Wes drove our car down the VERY NARROW driveway to the back of the hotel and maneuvered it into a parking space, and we got our room at the Hotel St. Andre. It's an unusual room called a double-double. What they have done is to create larger rooms by removing the wall between two rooms. So our room has two beds, two bathrooms, and two doors (although one is closed permanently) to the hallway. It's really rather nice.
The location of the hotel couldn't be better. Just half a block from it is the "hot" street in town--the section of St. Catherine Street called the Gay Village which actually serves as the entertainment area for all of Montreal with bars, clubs, theaters, restaurants, etc. The street has hanging strings of balls in various colors to create a long distance color pattern of a rainbow flag. And further up St. Catherine is the opera house, the CAM, and other major destinations.
After settling into the room, we went walking along both stretches of St. Catherine Street. Because it was warm and sunny and Saturday, crowds were out and the sidewalk tables were full. There were bachelorette and bachelor parties wandering up and down the street along with a mix of all kinds of people. It was just a day for people to be out among and watching other people while enjoying the great weather.
We needed to return our rental car to the airport, so we returned to the hotel to leave. First, it was difficult to get the car out of the back parking lot. I had to stand in front and give Wes directions to become aligned with the extra narrow lane between our building and the one next door. Then someone started to try to drive in off the street and I had to stop them (since we couldn't back up through that area). Eventually, we got out and on our way with cars backing up on the street behind the lady we asked to wait to enter until we were out.
It took about 40 minutes to get to the airport because of heavy traffic and detours caused by the rebuilding of the expressway (Hwy 20) that goes out there. When we finally arrived, we went to a nearby gas station to fill up only to find that it was closed. I used my phone to locate another gas station about a mile away, and we went there. Fortunately, it was open. But when we arrived at the rental car lot, the entrance was blocked by a large truck and it looked closed. Wes went to the office and found they were in the process of closing for the day. The car wasn't due for another hour, but rather than stay later and check us in, they asked us to take the car to the Park and Pay lot and leave it there. So we had to find that location and leave the car there. Fortunately, they were familiar with the process, and it went smoothly. Also, their van gave us a ride to the terminal where we bought bus tickets to return to town. But the bus had to deal with the same detours and expressway reconstruction that we had faced going out there. So about 2 1/2 hours after leaving the hotel to go to the airport, we made it back to the hotel. What an exhausting experience it had been!!
We still walked the nearby section of St. Catherine again before coming to the room. It was still active. Only the shops were closed. The bars, clubs, theaters, etc., were very alive with people enjoying the slightly cool, but still shirtsleeve, weather of the evening.
We were back in the hotel by 21:00 and ready by bed an hour later. It had been a long day.
Note: We had traveled slightly over 6000 km in the car. That's about 3750 miles!! It was way too much driving. I would recommend that anyone coming up this way make it into two trips--one for Montreal and Quebec City and another, flying into Halifax, for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick with the New Brunswick portion restricted only to the coastal area near Nova Scotia.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Exploring Quebec City
Friday, May 25, 2018--Quebec City
The center of Quebec City is very congested. Last night, we managed to explore most of it and made plans to return again tonight rather than during the daytime when it would be even more congested with traffic. Instead, we spent the daytime today at several parks strung along the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Our first stop was Montmorency Falls just north of the city. It is another water falls--not as wide as the one at Grand Falls yesterday, but with a longer drop. Water was rushing over the falls. There is a suspension bridge for walking just over the top of the falls which reminded me of the walkways over the Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side except they use metal grates for the walkway in Argentina, and the suspension bridge here was wooden allowing only slight views through the cracks between the boards.
From there, we drove to the first of two sections of the new Park Promenade Samuel-de Champlain. This section, near the bridges crossing the St. Lawrence Seaway is a small one with a tower to climb with views of the seaway.
Next, we moved to another section of the Park Promenade Samuel-de Champlain. It is also fairly new and is filled with lots of sculptures. Several of them moved with the winds. Some were rather plain, while others were quite interesting. They have a copy of the Angel's Wings sculpture which Mexico has given to several cities, including San Antonio (in HemisFair Park) for people to take selfies while standing in front of the wings.
Our final park was probably the best park in the city--Park Plaines d'Abraham. It is a major park with museums, sculptures, statues, old military fortifications, etc. We parked for about an hour and walked by some of the prominent features--several museum buildings and a statue/garden honoring Joan d'Arc.
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a nearby Costco to get gas because it was priced about 7 cents a gallon less than at stations in town. We had tried to stop there last night, but the lines to get gas were impossible. They were still long today. They had at least 8 lines of cars with at least 7-8 cars waiting in each line behind those who were pumping gas. I took photos!! But we decided to wait while we were there. It took at least 10 minutes to get up to the pump.
Not long after we got back to the hotel, there were rain showers. But they passed, and we went back downtown in the evening. We parked in the same place and we explored the same general region of the Old Town as last night. It was fun this time just watching people, looking into the shops and bars, and seeing what we could find down small streets. About 1 1/2 hours after we got there, it started to rain slightly again. Since we had already seen everything and had a day of travel ahead of us, we just returned to the car and drove back to the hotel.
Quebec is a nice city. It is much bigger than one might expect. The downtown area (combination of the lower town, the old town, and the modern downtown is HUGE!! Besides the beautiful old buildings to see, there are quaint squares, lots of statues, etc. It's a very good place to visit.
The center of Quebec City is very congested. Last night, we managed to explore most of it and made plans to return again tonight rather than during the daytime when it would be even more congested with traffic. Instead, we spent the daytime today at several parks strung along the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Our first stop was Montmorency Falls just north of the city. It is another water falls--not as wide as the one at Grand Falls yesterday, but with a longer drop. Water was rushing over the falls. There is a suspension bridge for walking just over the top of the falls which reminded me of the walkways over the Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side except they use metal grates for the walkway in Argentina, and the suspension bridge here was wooden allowing only slight views through the cracks between the boards.
From there, we drove to the first of two sections of the new Park Promenade Samuel-de Champlain. This section, near the bridges crossing the St. Lawrence Seaway is a small one with a tower to climb with views of the seaway.
Next, we moved to another section of the Park Promenade Samuel-de Champlain. It is also fairly new and is filled with lots of sculptures. Several of them moved with the winds. Some were rather plain, while others were quite interesting. They have a copy of the Angel's Wings sculpture which Mexico has given to several cities, including San Antonio (in HemisFair Park) for people to take selfies while standing in front of the wings.
Our final park was probably the best park in the city--Park Plaines d'Abraham. It is a major park with museums, sculptures, statues, old military fortifications, etc. We parked for about an hour and walked by some of the prominent features--several museum buildings and a statue/garden honoring Joan d'Arc.
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a nearby Costco to get gas because it was priced about 7 cents a gallon less than at stations in town. We had tried to stop there last night, but the lines to get gas were impossible. They were still long today. They had at least 8 lines of cars with at least 7-8 cars waiting in each line behind those who were pumping gas. I took photos!! But we decided to wait while we were there. It took at least 10 minutes to get up to the pump.
Not long after we got back to the hotel, there were rain showers. But they passed, and we went back downtown in the evening. We parked in the same place and we explored the same general region of the Old Town as last night. It was fun this time just watching people, looking into the shops and bars, and seeing what we could find down small streets. About 1 1/2 hours after we got there, it started to rain slightly again. Since we had already seen everything and had a day of travel ahead of us, we just returned to the car and drove back to the hotel.
Quebec is a nice city. It is much bigger than one might expect. The downtown area (combination of the lower town, the old town, and the modern downtown is HUGE!! Besides the beautiful old buildings to see, there are quaint squares, lots of statues, etc. It's a very good place to visit.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Backtracking to Great Falls and then Heading to Quebec City
Thursday, May 24, 2018--Quebec City
The weather was so nice this morning that we decided we should head back to Grand Falls--30 minutes behind our route--to see the falls before heading forward to Quebec City. It was a good decision. This time of the year is a good time to see them. Springtime is when the falls are roaring. Other times of the year they may slow to very little flow. The lady at the tourist office told us that 4 weeks ago about the time of the flooding further down the river in New Brunswick, the water was so high that much of the falls disappeared. But today, the falls were magnificent--roaring and dropping many feet. They are the most impressive falls I have seen after Iguazu and Niagara. We walked the trail along the gorge the water flows through after the falls viewing the falls and the flow of the river from various points. We spent almost 2 hours there.
Turning back toward Quebec, we arrived in the Quebec City area around 14:45--too early to check into our hotel. We hadn't eaten since breakfast and saw a Costco beside the highway, so we pulled off and ate a hot dog and some of the samples they were giving away. While there, we bought a beer to drink in the evening at the hotel.
Our hotel, the Chateau Repotel Henri IV, is a suburban motel. It is similar to the places where we have been staying in Fredericton and Edmundston. We checked in and rested.
Around 18:00, we headed downtown. We parked near the walled Old Quebec area which is so much like a European city. We wandered the narrow streets listening to buskers playing music and singing. We explored and/or passed the railway station, the City Hall, the Hotel Frontenac, and so many famous and beautiful places in Old Quebec. After a couple of hours of exploring, we left the old walled city and wandered through the downtown area where the Quebec provincial government buildings are located along with the bigger hotels and offices and then returned to our car.
Back at the hotel we drank our beer which was an unusual one: Mons Abbey Dubbel D'Abbaye, a bottle conditioned beer infused with spices. It was a lot like a cider and the alcohol level was 8%. It was nothing like we expected, but it was an interesting experience to drink it.
The weather was so nice this morning that we decided we should head back to Grand Falls--30 minutes behind our route--to see the falls before heading forward to Quebec City. It was a good decision. This time of the year is a good time to see them. Springtime is when the falls are roaring. Other times of the year they may slow to very little flow. The lady at the tourist office told us that 4 weeks ago about the time of the flooding further down the river in New Brunswick, the water was so high that much of the falls disappeared. But today, the falls were magnificent--roaring and dropping many feet. They are the most impressive falls I have seen after Iguazu and Niagara. We walked the trail along the gorge the water flows through after the falls viewing the falls and the flow of the river from various points. We spent almost 2 hours there.
Turning back toward Quebec, we arrived in the Quebec City area around 14:45--too early to check into our hotel. We hadn't eaten since breakfast and saw a Costco beside the highway, so we pulled off and ate a hot dog and some of the samples they were giving away. While there, we bought a beer to drink in the evening at the hotel.
Our hotel, the Chateau Repotel Henri IV, is a suburban motel. It is similar to the places where we have been staying in Fredericton and Edmundston. We checked in and rested.
Around 18:00, we headed downtown. We parked near the walled Old Quebec area which is so much like a European city. We wandered the narrow streets listening to buskers playing music and singing. We explored and/or passed the railway station, the City Hall, the Hotel Frontenac, and so many famous and beautiful places in Old Quebec. After a couple of hours of exploring, we left the old walled city and wandered through the downtown area where the Quebec provincial government buildings are located along with the bigger hotels and offices and then returned to our car.
Back at the hotel we drank our beer which was an unusual one: Mons Abbey Dubbel D'Abbaye, a bottle conditioned beer infused with spices. It was a lot like a cider and the alcohol level was 8%. It was nothing like we expected, but it was an interesting experience to drink it.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Traveling Further North on St. John River Scenic Roadways
Wednesday, May 23, 2018--Fredericton to Edmundston
Our route was shorter today, so we took our time leaving the hotel this morning. Again, we followed riverside roadways as we continued heading northward in New Brunswick. This time, we were following Hwy 105 most of the way.
We pulled off the road to explore the town of Woodstock, the oldest town in the province. Then we stopped to have a picnic while facing the covered wooden bridge in Hartland--the longest covered bridge in the world. Unfortunately, we had to eat the picnic in our car because it started raining just a few minutes before we arrived there. Before leaving, we crossed the river on the bridge and then crossed back.
The rain only lasted about an hour, so the sun was coming out again about the time we left Hartland. We passed another covered bridge a bit up the roadway, then we ran into another type of problem. The roadway was under reconstruction with long stops/delays. Rather than continuing at such a slow pace to Grand Falls where we had planned to hike the gorge and see the waterfall, we decided to backtrack to the last chance to cross the river we had passed and to continue up the expressway on the other side to Edmundston. We figured the hiking trail through the gorge might not even be walkable with the rain that had fallen.
We are staying at another Days Inn tonight. We rested for a couple of hours, then we drove into the city. It is right across the river from Madawaska, Maine, so we could look across to the USA. Both towns co-exist with the same employer being the biggest employer in each town--a Canadian paper company with a pipeline that sends pulp to the mill across the river in USA that makes quality paper from it. Together, the area has only about 20,000 residents and is losing population because it is so remote from larger metropolitan areas.
Our route was shorter today, so we took our time leaving the hotel this morning. Again, we followed riverside roadways as we continued heading northward in New Brunswick. This time, we were following Hwy 105 most of the way.
We pulled off the road to explore the town of Woodstock, the oldest town in the province. Then we stopped to have a picnic while facing the covered wooden bridge in Hartland--the longest covered bridge in the world. Unfortunately, we had to eat the picnic in our car because it started raining just a few minutes before we arrived there. Before leaving, we crossed the river on the bridge and then crossed back.
The rain only lasted about an hour, so the sun was coming out again about the time we left Hartland. We passed another covered bridge a bit up the roadway, then we ran into another type of problem. The roadway was under reconstruction with long stops/delays. Rather than continuing at such a slow pace to Grand Falls where we had planned to hike the gorge and see the waterfall, we decided to backtrack to the last chance to cross the river we had passed and to continue up the expressway on the other side to Edmundston. We figured the hiking trail through the gorge might not even be walkable with the rain that had fallen.
We are staying at another Days Inn tonight. We rested for a couple of hours, then we drove into the city. It is right across the river from Madawaska, Maine, so we could look across to the USA. Both towns co-exist with the same employer being the biggest employer in each town--a Canadian paper company with a pipeline that sends pulp to the mill across the river in USA that makes quality paper from it. Together, the area has only about 20,000 residents and is losing population because it is so remote from larger metropolitan areas.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Explorations--A Trail, Two Waterfalls, Three Ferries
Tuesday, May 22, 2018--Moncton to Fredericton
Today was one that I've looked forward to experiencing during the whole trip. It had two major components--driving the Fundy Trail Parkway and also driving the Lower St. John River Scenic Drive.
We had to leave Moncton early because of the length of time the activities would take. It took 3 hours to reach St. Martins, a former shipbuilding quaint old town with a small port and a couple of old covered bridges as well as the beginning of the Fundy Trail Parkway. From its start there, it wanders up the Fundy Bay coast covering the largest section of natural coastal landscape between Florida and Labrador. There is a fee for the drive which is associated with the nearby Fundy National Park. Along the route are many pull offs/lookouts, hiking trails, and natural features to see. We stopped many times to see views up and down the coast. And we stopped three times to take hikes. Two of the hikes went through the woods near creeks and brought us to waterfalls. The trails themselves were so soft from years and years of fir tree needles which had fallen. Some points were quite steep, so they had unique "cable stairs" at points. These were steps of wood held in the air slightly above the ground by cables; think of it as an angled ladder that wobbles like a suspension bridge. On every trail, we were completely alone; we never met anyone! On our last hike, a sign said the trail was closed but also said that persons going beyond that point did so at their own risk. We took the risk. It wasn't marked as well as the other trails, but we wanted to see the gorge and another waterfall. We never found them, and we had to really concentrate to find our way back out of the woods, but it was exciting and fun.
Driving the trail with all our stops and hikes took about 3 1/2 hours, so it was already early afternoon before we headed up the Lower St. John River Scenic Drive. It consists of narrow 2-lane highways following the sides of the St. John River that were the main route along that way before the expressways were built. There are a series of cable ferries (small ferries that carry 6-9 cars and pull themselves from side to side via a metal cable strung from one side of the river to the other).
It was fascinating driving the route. The river is wide, and many people live along it. The sad thing is that there was major flooding on the river a month ago. The motel where we stayed in St. John two weeks ago was filled with food refuges waiting to be able to return to their homes. Today, almost every home on the first part of the route we drove had piles of debris stacked outside--sofas, chairs, mattresses, wall boards, flooring, etc.--they were having to replace because of the floods.
The route we followed was Hwy 119 to the Gondola Point Ferry, Hwy 845 to Kingston followed by Hwy 850 to the Belleisle Bay Ferry, Hwy 124 to the Evandale Ferry, and Hwy 102 through Gagetown to Oromocto where our Days Inn where we are staying is located. It's a very pleasant trip that is threatened by the possibility that the ferries may be discontinued. One at Gagetown already is gone.
We are actually just outside the capital city of New Brunswick, Fredericton, for the night. We drove into town tonight to eat. While there, we walked through the downtown area which is active with citizens and university students--partying, attending concerts, etc. We drove through two adjacent campuses--the University of New Brunswick and the University of St. Thomas. The city is small, but it is a nice and pretty one. Because we were tired from the long day, we then retreated to our hotel to relax until bedtime.
Today was one that I've looked forward to experiencing during the whole trip. It had two major components--driving the Fundy Trail Parkway and also driving the Lower St. John River Scenic Drive.
We had to leave Moncton early because of the length of time the activities would take. It took 3 hours to reach St. Martins, a former shipbuilding quaint old town with a small port and a couple of old covered bridges as well as the beginning of the Fundy Trail Parkway. From its start there, it wanders up the Fundy Bay coast covering the largest section of natural coastal landscape between Florida and Labrador. There is a fee for the drive which is associated with the nearby Fundy National Park. Along the route are many pull offs/lookouts, hiking trails, and natural features to see. We stopped many times to see views up and down the coast. And we stopped three times to take hikes. Two of the hikes went through the woods near creeks and brought us to waterfalls. The trails themselves were so soft from years and years of fir tree needles which had fallen. Some points were quite steep, so they had unique "cable stairs" at points. These were steps of wood held in the air slightly above the ground by cables; think of it as an angled ladder that wobbles like a suspension bridge. On every trail, we were completely alone; we never met anyone! On our last hike, a sign said the trail was closed but also said that persons going beyond that point did so at their own risk. We took the risk. It wasn't marked as well as the other trails, but we wanted to see the gorge and another waterfall. We never found them, and we had to really concentrate to find our way back out of the woods, but it was exciting and fun.
Driving the trail with all our stops and hikes took about 3 1/2 hours, so it was already early afternoon before we headed up the Lower St. John River Scenic Drive. It consists of narrow 2-lane highways following the sides of the St. John River that were the main route along that way before the expressways were built. There are a series of cable ferries (small ferries that carry 6-9 cars and pull themselves from side to side via a metal cable strung from one side of the river to the other).
It was fascinating driving the route. The river is wide, and many people live along it. The sad thing is that there was major flooding on the river a month ago. The motel where we stayed in St. John two weeks ago was filled with food refuges waiting to be able to return to their homes. Today, almost every home on the first part of the route we drove had piles of debris stacked outside--sofas, chairs, mattresses, wall boards, flooring, etc.--they were having to replace because of the floods.
The route we followed was Hwy 119 to the Gondola Point Ferry, Hwy 845 to Kingston followed by Hwy 850 to the Belleisle Bay Ferry, Hwy 124 to the Evandale Ferry, and Hwy 102 through Gagetown to Oromocto where our Days Inn where we are staying is located. It's a very pleasant trip that is threatened by the possibility that the ferries may be discontinued. One at Gagetown already is gone.
We are actually just outside the capital city of New Brunswick, Fredericton, for the night. We drove into town tonight to eat. While there, we walked through the downtown area which is active with citizens and university students--partying, attending concerts, etc. We drove through two adjacent campuses--the University of New Brunswick and the University of St. Thomas. The city is small, but it is a nice and pretty one. Because we were tired from the long day, we then retreated to our hotel to relax until bedtime.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Local Interaction Last Night and the Fundy Tides Today
Monday, May 21, 2018--PEI to Moncton, NB (Victoria Day in Canada)
Last night we drove to the town of Victoria, a small historical fishing town. We parked on the pier and walked up and down the few streets there. It's interesting. There are only a few blocks, but the town has a chocolate shop, 3 nice restaurants (2 closed last night), a book store, a pottery shop, etc., and only about 200 residents. We had saved it for the evening because our main destination was Kellys Cross.
Kellys Cross is a crossroads of two country roads with a few houses and a church. We headed there for a type of an event that is traditional and a must-see for tourists on PEI. Every third Sunday of each month Kellys Cross has a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee). It's a local social gathering to enjoy music. The event and the word for it was brought to PEI by the Irish and the Scottish settlers when they immigrated. Over time, it has changed from being just Irish and/or Scottish music. Now it includes Irish, Scottish, country, and folk music. There is a house band, there are people to sign up for open-mic, and there are guest artists. Last night's event was held at the community center which is also the basement of the Catholic Church.
The open-mic portion of the the music last night was generally poor. One group was horrible!! A woman who played the guitar and was accompanied on the piano was a decent singer, but she was a stage hog. She knew she was only supposed to sing two songs, but she kept saying, "One more!," and going into it before she was cut off. By the 6th song, the MC just stepped on the stage and thanked her before she could get another one started. A woman who was a member of the house band was weak as a singer, but it was easier to tolerate her. The highlights were the male members of the house band and the guest band artists for the night who ranged from good to great. The guest band is named Tip Er Back. The lead singer for them last night (the one on the right in the photo at the top of the band's Facebook page), is not usually the lead singer of the group, but he was as good as professional singers who have hit it big in the US. What's strange, however, is that I cannot find recordings by him or by the whole band anywhere on the Internet. I would have liked to have linked a couple of videos.
The hall was full of local people. All were older. Because of that, two thoughts went through my mind: 1) These people all grew up on PEI probably before rural electricity became available, so learning to sing and play instruments to entertain themselves and others was probably all that was available to them then (with no radio or TV). 2) It's likely that the ceilidh will become a thing of the past in a few years since young people do not attend them. But last night the hall was full of elderly people (about 75 in all) enjoying themselves. They really seemed to like the folk songs about life on PEI--going out on the fishing boat, watching the flowers grow, how hard mother's life was, etc. Stompin' Tom is dead now, but he was a well-known performer of local songs (Bud the Spud, The Hockey Song, etc.) at such events. Here's an Irish song at another ceilidh.
The people were true country people. No nearby town has more than 200 people. Some in attendance looked as if they led very hard lives. Others looked like they might be city retirees who have moved back to the country. There was an intermission in which they served buttered raisin bread and coffee or tea (included in the $6 admission fee). We were a bit surprised that people weren't curious about who we were, but maybe they get tourists regularly to these events. People did make comments to us, but they didn't ask questions.
Today, we drove off the island via the Confederation Bridge. We are staying in Moncton at the same Airbnb apartment where we stayed when we came through here before. Our purpose of being here today was to see the Fundy Tides. The Bay of Fundy has the biggest differentiation in tidal levels in the world. We went south of here about 30 minutes to Hopewell which is one of the better places to see the tides. We timed our arrival from PEI to be just before noon to coordinate with the low tide of the day. We took some photos to use as reference points for the low tide level. Then, after coming back into town to check into our apartment, do a load of laundry, and check emails, we drove back out there for the 17:50 high tide level. When the tide was low, the bottom of the bay was just red mud flats. When it was high, the water was probably about 11 feet (3 meters) deep at the same spot. That's the usual variation each day, but there have been times with a full moon and with maybe an approaching storm when the variation has been much greater. Driving out twice two see water levels may sound like a strange way to spend a day, but there wasn't much else to do since it is a holiday in Canada (Victoria Day) with almost everything closed. Plus, it is considered to be a major thing for tourists to see when in this area.
One interesting observation while making the two trips out to Hopewell was the change in the trees. It has been a warm, sunny day. There was a definite difference in the color of the forests between our morning ride out there and our late afternoon ride. Everything changed from looking like the end of winter/breaking out of spring with a few tiny leaves to being very green with pronounced leaves on the trees!
Last night we drove to the town of Victoria, a small historical fishing town. We parked on the pier and walked up and down the few streets there. It's interesting. There are only a few blocks, but the town has a chocolate shop, 3 nice restaurants (2 closed last night), a book store, a pottery shop, etc., and only about 200 residents. We had saved it for the evening because our main destination was Kellys Cross.
Kellys Cross is a crossroads of two country roads with a few houses and a church. We headed there for a type of an event that is traditional and a must-see for tourists on PEI. Every third Sunday of each month Kellys Cross has a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee). It's a local social gathering to enjoy music. The event and the word for it was brought to PEI by the Irish and the Scottish settlers when they immigrated. Over time, it has changed from being just Irish and/or Scottish music. Now it includes Irish, Scottish, country, and folk music. There is a house band, there are people to sign up for open-mic, and there are guest artists. Last night's event was held at the community center which is also the basement of the Catholic Church.
The open-mic portion of the the music last night was generally poor. One group was horrible!! A woman who played the guitar and was accompanied on the piano was a decent singer, but she was a stage hog. She knew she was only supposed to sing two songs, but she kept saying, "One more!," and going into it before she was cut off. By the 6th song, the MC just stepped on the stage and thanked her before she could get another one started. A woman who was a member of the house band was weak as a singer, but it was easier to tolerate her. The highlights were the male members of the house band and the guest band artists for the night who ranged from good to great. The guest band is named Tip Er Back. The lead singer for them last night (the one on the right in the photo at the top of the band's Facebook page), is not usually the lead singer of the group, but he was as good as professional singers who have hit it big in the US. What's strange, however, is that I cannot find recordings by him or by the whole band anywhere on the Internet. I would have liked to have linked a couple of videos.
The hall was full of local people. All were older. Because of that, two thoughts went through my mind: 1) These people all grew up on PEI probably before rural electricity became available, so learning to sing and play instruments to entertain themselves and others was probably all that was available to them then (with no radio or TV). 2) It's likely that the ceilidh will become a thing of the past in a few years since young people do not attend them. But last night the hall was full of elderly people (about 75 in all) enjoying themselves. They really seemed to like the folk songs about life on PEI--going out on the fishing boat, watching the flowers grow, how hard mother's life was, etc. Stompin' Tom is dead now, but he was a well-known performer of local songs (Bud the Spud, The Hockey Song, etc.) at such events. Here's an Irish song at another ceilidh.
The people were true country people. No nearby town has more than 200 people. Some in attendance looked as if they led very hard lives. Others looked like they might be city retirees who have moved back to the country. There was an intermission in which they served buttered raisin bread and coffee or tea (included in the $6 admission fee). We were a bit surprised that people weren't curious about who we were, but maybe they get tourists regularly to these events. People did make comments to us, but they didn't ask questions.
Today, we drove off the island via the Confederation Bridge. We are staying in Moncton at the same Airbnb apartment where we stayed when we came through here before. Our purpose of being here today was to see the Fundy Tides. The Bay of Fundy has the biggest differentiation in tidal levels in the world. We went south of here about 30 minutes to Hopewell which is one of the better places to see the tides. We timed our arrival from PEI to be just before noon to coordinate with the low tide of the day. We took some photos to use as reference points for the low tide level. Then, after coming back into town to check into our apartment, do a load of laundry, and check emails, we drove back out there for the 17:50 high tide level. When the tide was low, the bottom of the bay was just red mud flats. When it was high, the water was probably about 11 feet (3 meters) deep at the same spot. That's the usual variation each day, but there have been times with a full moon and with maybe an approaching storm when the variation has been much greater. Driving out twice two see water levels may sound like a strange way to spend a day, but there wasn't much else to do since it is a holiday in Canada (Victoria Day) with almost everything closed. Plus, it is considered to be a major thing for tourists to see when in this area.
One interesting observation while making the two trips out to Hopewell was the change in the trees. It has been a warm, sunny day. There was a definite difference in the color of the forests between our morning ride out there and our late afternoon ride. Everything changed from looking like the end of winter/breaking out of spring with a few tiny leaves to being very green with pronounced leaves on the trees!
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Final Day on Prince Edward Island
Sunday, May 20, 2018--Summerside, PEI
Last night we explored Summerside. It's not much of a city. We did find it has a downtown although a mostly dead one. We walked that, then we drove around seeing all the beautiful historic houses near there. It must have been a rich town at one time.
We didn't see a restaurant where we wanted to eat, so we stopped at a supermarket and bought a frozen lasagna before returning to the motel. We heated it in the microwave, then we had some of a cake we had bought a few days ago. It was a nice evening just relaxing in the room.
The visit to PEI has gone faster than we expected due to nothing being very far from anywhere else, so today was somewhat of an extra day in terms of seeing sights. That worked out fine though. The forecast was for rain in the afternoon meaning there were only a few hours for seeing anything anyway. We drove northwest of Sunnyside to visit a rural area we had planned to skip. Then when it started raining around 12:30, we headed back south arriving at the hotel around 1:30.
On the drive, we mostly just stayed in the car seeing the views of the countryside and the coastal areas. We did stop to see the church in Miscouche while people were just starting to arrive for Sunday services. A few people were inside, and they had set up food (apparently originally intended for a picnic after the service) in the back of the sanctuary due to the expected rain. We saw the church and then left laughing and asking each other if we thought they were guarding the food out of fear that we might start eating!
Later, we pulled off to see the small port at Miminegash, explored Judes Point, were excited to find Alberton (another town with a TRUE downtown), and then headed straight back toward the motel from there as the rain started.
The rain, as forecast, ended around 15:00, and the skies slowly started getting brighter and brighter. We have plans for the evening, but we are just staying in the room this afternoon relaxing. I'll write about tonight's adventure tomorrow.
Last night we explored Summerside. It's not much of a city. We did find it has a downtown although a mostly dead one. We walked that, then we drove around seeing all the beautiful historic houses near there. It must have been a rich town at one time.
We didn't see a restaurant where we wanted to eat, so we stopped at a supermarket and bought a frozen lasagna before returning to the motel. We heated it in the microwave, then we had some of a cake we had bought a few days ago. It was a nice evening just relaxing in the room.
The visit to PEI has gone faster than we expected due to nothing being very far from anywhere else, so today was somewhat of an extra day in terms of seeing sights. That worked out fine though. The forecast was for rain in the afternoon meaning there were only a few hours for seeing anything anyway. We drove northwest of Sunnyside to visit a rural area we had planned to skip. Then when it started raining around 12:30, we headed back south arriving at the hotel around 1:30.
On the drive, we mostly just stayed in the car seeing the views of the countryside and the coastal areas. We did stop to see the church in Miscouche while people were just starting to arrive for Sunday services. A few people were inside, and they had set up food (apparently originally intended for a picnic after the service) in the back of the sanctuary due to the expected rain. We saw the church and then left laughing and asking each other if we thought they were guarding the food out of fear that we might start eating!
Later, we pulled off to see the small port at Miminegash, explored Judes Point, were excited to find Alberton (another town with a TRUE downtown), and then headed straight back toward the motel from there as the rain started.
The rain, as forecast, ended around 15:00, and the skies slowly started getting brighter and brighter. We have plans for the evening, but we are just staying in the room this afternoon relaxing. I'll write about tonight's adventure tomorrow.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Exploring the Northern Coast of Prince Edward Island
Saturday, May 19, 2018--Charlottetown to Summerside, PEI
Last evening after eating, we stopped at the government liquor store and bought two locally made beers that the employee recommended. We took them back to our room and drank them while watching the only show we could find that seemed halfway interesting--information about Prince Harry and Megan Markle in advance of the royal wedding today.
This morning when we awoke at 7:30 and turned on the TV, the royal wedding was just beginning. Our first reaction was, "Wasn't that supposed to be over by now?" Last night, they had made a big deal about covering the wedding at 5:00 a.m. Eastern time (which would be 6:00 a.m. here in the Maritimes). But members of the royal family were just arriving in the church at 7:30. We would have been upset if we had set an alarm and gotten up early. Which made us wonder, "How many people in Texas got up at 5:00 a.m. to see the wedding only to find that they could have slept for another hour and a half before it began?"
The breakfast room at the motel was full of people eating slowly while watching the ceremony. We barely found a small two-top table where we could sit to eat. And there were long lines waiting for the toasters to do their job--always the slowest process at an open buffet breakfast at a motel. One woman commented to me that her eggs and bacon were going to be cold by the time her bread toasted.
We were glad to leave the motel. Wi-Fi was essentially non-existent there. It was poor part of the day, but by the evenings, nothing would work. I measured the speed at one point when it was going fast enough for me to load the website to do so, and the download speed was 1.6 Mbps which means that most of the evening (when it wouldn't even load a website) it was slower than that. We are at another branch of the same motel group tonight and tomorrow night, so we are worrying that we may be isolated from using computers/phones for another two days!! I am writing this blog entry in the middle of the afternoon in hopes of getting it finished before Wi-Fi quits working.
Today we traveled two highways (6 and 20) across the northern side of the island. Those two highways together are supposed to cross through the prettiest scenery here. And it was nice. The land had more of a roll to it--rolling hills that allowed nice views of forests and farmlands in the distance. Unfortunately, the roads did not go through any REAL towns. Again, we found no place where we could walk down a street while admiring downtown architecture. Even the one place that qualified to be called a town had no downtown. Everywhere is just a collection of buildings--churches, shops, restaurants, etc., in independent buildings scattered over a short distance.
The weather was great, however, as we made our way across the island--warm enough for wearing only a short-sleeve shirt. The breeze near the water got a little cool, but it remained tolerable.
The best place we stopped was a town called North Rustico. It has a collection of independent buildings and homes near a town harbor with a boardwalk from there out to a beach and smaller harbor. We parked and walked the whole boardwalk, went over the dunes to the beach, walked along the beach to the lighthouse and smaller harbor which had gift shops and restaurants, and then went back along the boardwalk to the center of town.
Our next stop was the unattractive town of Cavendish. It is very famous for one particular reason--as the setting for the story in the book entitled Anne of Green Gables. This whole northern area of PEI is a major tourist destination for families due to their daughters having read that book and wanting to see the house and the area. It's also popular for a nice beach, but the story gets most of them here in the first place. We saw the house from the outside and took a photo, but we had no interest in touring it or experiencing the commercial mess that has built up in the area to serve the tourists--amusement park rides, mini-golf courses, "museums," racetracks, souvenir shops, etc.
Instead, we headed to hiking trails nearby in PEI National Park. We took a long trail (actually parts of 3 connected trails including the Cavendish Grove Trail and the Cavendish Dune Trail) that went through the woods, around a farm, past the dunes, and back to where we started. At one point, we sat on a bench at the edge of the woods looking across a lake at the dunes--listening to the songs of the nearby birds and enjoying the warm sunshine.
Off Hwy 20, we headed to two more of the island's scenic heritage roads. Both were good ones--narrow, red-dirt roads with woods lining them and no houses along the way. They are a nice change of pace from going down highways all day and I imagine it would be fun to take a sleigh along them in the wintertime when it has snowed. Approaching the end of the second road, we encountered a very steep hill and descending it was exciting. At the bottom of the hill where the road intersected the highway, we were surprised to find an interesting collection of folk art in the yard of a home. It was a collection of replica buildings constructed out of small stones called Woodleigh Replicas.
Now I will see if the Wi-Fi will allow me to post this. Later, we will head into Summerside which has about 15,000 residents and explore it. We are hoping it will be a REAL town!!
Last evening after eating, we stopped at the government liquor store and bought two locally made beers that the employee recommended. We took them back to our room and drank them while watching the only show we could find that seemed halfway interesting--information about Prince Harry and Megan Markle in advance of the royal wedding today.
This morning when we awoke at 7:30 and turned on the TV, the royal wedding was just beginning. Our first reaction was, "Wasn't that supposed to be over by now?" Last night, they had made a big deal about covering the wedding at 5:00 a.m. Eastern time (which would be 6:00 a.m. here in the Maritimes). But members of the royal family were just arriving in the church at 7:30. We would have been upset if we had set an alarm and gotten up early. Which made us wonder, "How many people in Texas got up at 5:00 a.m. to see the wedding only to find that they could have slept for another hour and a half before it began?"
The breakfast room at the motel was full of people eating slowly while watching the ceremony. We barely found a small two-top table where we could sit to eat. And there were long lines waiting for the toasters to do their job--always the slowest process at an open buffet breakfast at a motel. One woman commented to me that her eggs and bacon were going to be cold by the time her bread toasted.
We were glad to leave the motel. Wi-Fi was essentially non-existent there. It was poor part of the day, but by the evenings, nothing would work. I measured the speed at one point when it was going fast enough for me to load the website to do so, and the download speed was 1.6 Mbps which means that most of the evening (when it wouldn't even load a website) it was slower than that. We are at another branch of the same motel group tonight and tomorrow night, so we are worrying that we may be isolated from using computers/phones for another two days!! I am writing this blog entry in the middle of the afternoon in hopes of getting it finished before Wi-Fi quits working.
Today we traveled two highways (6 and 20) across the northern side of the island. Those two highways together are supposed to cross through the prettiest scenery here. And it was nice. The land had more of a roll to it--rolling hills that allowed nice views of forests and farmlands in the distance. Unfortunately, the roads did not go through any REAL towns. Again, we found no place where we could walk down a street while admiring downtown architecture. Even the one place that qualified to be called a town had no downtown. Everywhere is just a collection of buildings--churches, shops, restaurants, etc., in independent buildings scattered over a short distance.
The weather was great, however, as we made our way across the island--warm enough for wearing only a short-sleeve shirt. The breeze near the water got a little cool, but it remained tolerable.
The best place we stopped was a town called North Rustico. It has a collection of independent buildings and homes near a town harbor with a boardwalk from there out to a beach and smaller harbor. We parked and walked the whole boardwalk, went over the dunes to the beach, walked along the beach to the lighthouse and smaller harbor which had gift shops and restaurants, and then went back along the boardwalk to the center of town.
Our next stop was the unattractive town of Cavendish. It is very famous for one particular reason--as the setting for the story in the book entitled Anne of Green Gables. This whole northern area of PEI is a major tourist destination for families due to their daughters having read that book and wanting to see the house and the area. It's also popular for a nice beach, but the story gets most of them here in the first place. We saw the house from the outside and took a photo, but we had no interest in touring it or experiencing the commercial mess that has built up in the area to serve the tourists--amusement park rides, mini-golf courses, "museums," racetracks, souvenir shops, etc.
Instead, we headed to hiking trails nearby in PEI National Park. We took a long trail (actually parts of 3 connected trails including the Cavendish Grove Trail and the Cavendish Dune Trail) that went through the woods, around a farm, past the dunes, and back to where we started. At one point, we sat on a bench at the edge of the woods looking across a lake at the dunes--listening to the songs of the nearby birds and enjoying the warm sunshine.
Off Hwy 20, we headed to two more of the island's scenic heritage roads. Both were good ones--narrow, red-dirt roads with woods lining them and no houses along the way. They are a nice change of pace from going down highways all day and I imagine it would be fun to take a sleigh along them in the wintertime when it has snowed. Approaching the end of the second road, we encountered a very steep hill and descending it was exciting. At the bottom of the hill where the road intersected the highway, we were surprised to find an interesting collection of folk art in the yard of a home. It was a collection of replica buildings constructed out of small stones called Woodleigh Replicas.
Now I will see if the Wi-Fi will allow me to post this. Later, we will head into Summerside which has about 15,000 residents and explore it. We are hoping it will be a REAL town!!
Friday, May 18, 2018
Taking the Ferry to Prince Edward Island
Thursday, May 17, 2018--Antigonish, NS to Charlottetown, PEI
We slept so well last night at the Coastal Inn outside Antigonish. I was worried because there were many vehicles in the parking lot and lots of laborers were staying there cooking food on grills in front of their rooms and visiting. But I never heard them once inside my room. When I came out in the morning, all the vehicles were gone and I hadn't heard a single one of them start. Plus, our room was really nice--split level with 3 queen beds, a dining area, and a large bathroom.
We arrived about an hour early this morning for the 11:15 ferry to Prince Edward Island (PEI). But just before arriving at the terminal we had a nice experience. A black bear ran across the road ahead of us--from the woods on one side of the road to the woods on the other.
The ferry ride took 45 minutes and was rather typical except for one interesting fact: The food for sale was reasonably priced. Almost everyone was eating, so I looked at the menu. That's when I realized how inexpensive things seemed. A bowl of chowder was only $6. Burgers were $5, but they came with a very thick meat patty. Unfortunately, we had just had a big breakfast at our motel, so we weren't hungry.
It had been sunny as we headed out for the day. While on the ferry, it turned very cloudy, windy, and cold. It remained that way as we arrived in PEI. It sprinkled a bit as we drove away from the ferry terminal, but it never rained. By the end of the day, it was clear and sunny again. But we had a great time passing the day even though it was cloudy and cold.
Off the ferry, we headed to two scenic heritage routes I had marked on the map. They are local unpaved red clay roads which are lined by trees that have branching reaching across to form a canopy. Today, there was no canopy, because the leaves are just starting to come out on the trees here. But one of the roads was especially nice because it was very narrow, started with a lake beside it and had parts of it with different types of trees--a section with lots of evergreens, another section with lots of white birch trees, and then a section with trees having leaves just starting to come out.
After following those roads, we headed to Point Prim to see the lighthouse. It is a tall lighthouse--the oldest on PEI--at the end of a land finger where boats enter the bay to head to Charlottetown, the capital city. And on the way back out from visiting it, we had another animal experience. A fox walked across the road in front of us and then casually continued beside the car before heading away from the area.
We pulled off the road one more time on the way to Charlottetown to see the town of Orwell. It is now a "museum" of the collection of old buildings--a church, a school, a store, and some homes and farm buildings. It is closed at the present time, but we could see the buildings. When it opens during the main tourist season, it operates like Williamsburg with people in costume demonstrating what like was like long ago.
Charlottetown has been a great surprise. It is my favorite of the cities we have seen in the Maritimes so far. It's a small city with only about 35,000 residents, but it has a very large downtown area with lots of character. It has a major shopping street, an older "Victorian Row" street with sidewalk cafes and bars, several streets that are a couple of "bohemian" streets with independent shops appealing to students and hipsters. There are at least 3 live performance venues, an art museum, a cinema showing foreign and independent films, etc. And there are some beautiful old homes, too.
Tonight and tomorrow night, we are staying at Canada's Best Value Inn here. It's a motel similar to where we stayed last night. It's conveniently located near the university, near a cinema and shopping district, and just a short distance from downtown Charlottetown. There was a problem when we first arrived though. I had made two reservations for the two nights, and I had made a mistake with the first reservation being for last night instead of tonight. I had happened because just before making a reservation for it, I had made the one for last night in Antigonish on the same website. Apparently, I didn't change the date before starting the new search, so I accidentally reserved this motel for the same night that I had reserved the previous one. But the hotel employee was so nice. He contacted their office to find that they had processed the payment this morning for our missed stay last night, and they approved letting us stay tonight instead. Apparently, they didn't have a full house last night and had were not fully booked for tonight either. Whew!!
We slept so well last night at the Coastal Inn outside Antigonish. I was worried because there were many vehicles in the parking lot and lots of laborers were staying there cooking food on grills in front of their rooms and visiting. But I never heard them once inside my room. When I came out in the morning, all the vehicles were gone and I hadn't heard a single one of them start. Plus, our room was really nice--split level with 3 queen beds, a dining area, and a large bathroom.
We arrived about an hour early this morning for the 11:15 ferry to Prince Edward Island (PEI). But just before arriving at the terminal we had a nice experience. A black bear ran across the road ahead of us--from the woods on one side of the road to the woods on the other.
The ferry ride took 45 minutes and was rather typical except for one interesting fact: The food for sale was reasonably priced. Almost everyone was eating, so I looked at the menu. That's when I realized how inexpensive things seemed. A bowl of chowder was only $6. Burgers were $5, but they came with a very thick meat patty. Unfortunately, we had just had a big breakfast at our motel, so we weren't hungry.
It had been sunny as we headed out for the day. While on the ferry, it turned very cloudy, windy, and cold. It remained that way as we arrived in PEI. It sprinkled a bit as we drove away from the ferry terminal, but it never rained. By the end of the day, it was clear and sunny again. But we had a great time passing the day even though it was cloudy and cold.
Off the ferry, we headed to two scenic heritage routes I had marked on the map. They are local unpaved red clay roads which are lined by trees that have branching reaching across to form a canopy. Today, there was no canopy, because the leaves are just starting to come out on the trees here. But one of the roads was especially nice because it was very narrow, started with a lake beside it and had parts of it with different types of trees--a section with lots of evergreens, another section with lots of white birch trees, and then a section with trees having leaves just starting to come out.
After following those roads, we headed to Point Prim to see the lighthouse. It is a tall lighthouse--the oldest on PEI--at the end of a land finger where boats enter the bay to head to Charlottetown, the capital city. And on the way back out from visiting it, we had another animal experience. A fox walked across the road in front of us and then casually continued beside the car before heading away from the area.
We pulled off the road one more time on the way to Charlottetown to see the town of Orwell. It is now a "museum" of the collection of old buildings--a church, a school, a store, and some homes and farm buildings. It is closed at the present time, but we could see the buildings. When it opens during the main tourist season, it operates like Williamsburg with people in costume demonstrating what like was like long ago.
Charlottetown has been a great surprise. It is my favorite of the cities we have seen in the Maritimes so far. It's a small city with only about 35,000 residents, but it has a very large downtown area with lots of character. It has a major shopping street, an older "Victorian Row" street with sidewalk cafes and bars, several streets that are a couple of "bohemian" streets with independent shops appealing to students and hipsters. There are at least 3 live performance venues, an art museum, a cinema showing foreign and independent films, etc. And there are some beautiful old homes, too.
Tonight and tomorrow night, we are staying at Canada's Best Value Inn here. It's a motel similar to where we stayed last night. It's conveniently located near the university, near a cinema and shopping district, and just a short distance from downtown Charlottetown. There was a problem when we first arrived though. I had made two reservations for the two nights, and I had made a mistake with the first reservation being for last night instead of tonight. I had happened because just before making a reservation for it, I had made the one for last night in Antigonish on the same website. Apparently, I didn't change the date before starting the new search, so I accidentally reserved this motel for the same night that I had reserved the previous one. But the hotel employee was so nice. He contacted their office to find that they had processed the payment this morning for our missed stay last night, and they approved letting us stay tonight instead. Apparently, they didn't have a full house last night and had were not fully booked for tonight either. Whew!!
Outside of Charlottetown, There Isn't Much to Prince Edward Island
Friday, May 18, 2018--Charlottetown and Northeastern PEI
Using the computer was a problem last night. The Wi-Fi access was so slow (and sometimes non-existent) that I could barely do anything all evening. I couldn't even test the speed because the web pages for the broadband speed test sites wouldn't open. It's strange that this area of Canada--not just PEI but also Nova Scotia--so far generally has slower Internet services than I encountered in Colombia and Ecuador last fall!! The speeds I have tested seem to be only in the 5 Mbps to 20 Mbps range for downloads which is pitiful for a hotel or an apartment where others are using the same service causing that speed to be cut into 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc., as much per instrument (phone, computer, TV, etc.) connected and using the service at any given time.
We left Charlottetown around 9:30 this morning expecting to spend most of the day exploring the coast and the towns in the northeastern part of PEI. By 12:30, we were heading back in to Charlottetown. Most of the towns on the map for the province wouldn't really be qualified as towns. Many consist of maybe 3-5 houses with no businesses. Some are just an intersection with some houses in the distant area!! Georgetown, which is touted as a special town for its historical buildings, has fewer than 560 people living there and has maybe 8-10 old historical buildings with 2 of them being abandoned wooden church buildings that are falling apart. In the guidebooks, Georgetown was made to sound like a nice small city, and I even tried to make a reservation to stay there for tonight thinking it would be a good place to explore. I had trouble finding anything, so I reserved the second night here where we were already booked for last night. Today, it took us all of about 10 minutes to find every significant building, to see the port, and to read the informational signs about the history of the place.
To give a better description of PEI, it is a very rural province. There are beautiful farms everywhere, but the Charlottetown metro area is by far the largest place on the island. So far, we have found no other towns where we might want to stay. There is only one place outside the metro area with a population greater than 2000, but the whole province has only 143,000 people.
We did drive another two of the historical heritage roads today. Both again were red dirt roads. We got about halfway down one when we encountered a road grater working. We had to turn around and backtrack because the road is so narrow that the area where he was working was impassable due the narrow sections on each side of the loose raised dirt in the middle that he would later smooth out. In the second, though, we had a great trip through a beautiful wooded area with a nice stream crossing along the way.
We also came through an Amish area. The Amish are somewhat new to PEI, but they seem to have been welcomed by locals. We saw a couple of signs warning about horse buggies being on the roads, then we met an oncoming buggy with a woman and a girl in it.
We returned to Charlottetown and went to the Cows Creamery. It is been reputed to be the company that makes the best ice cream in Canada. We took their self-guided tour and then shared a cone with two dips of their favorite flavors. It is good ice cream. And it was fun seeing their t-shirts and their signs around the theme of their business.
Then we walked the Beach Grove Nature Trail between there and hour hotel. It goes through a wooded area beside the bay. The sun has been out all day, and with the wind speeds being slower than yesterday, the somewhat cold temperatures aren't bothersome. At one point, we stopped to sit on a bench in the sunshine where the trail left the woods and had green grass and yellow and purple wildflowers growing beside it.
We had intended to be out exploring in the east until evening and to attend a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) at Pooles Corner, a crossroads outside of Georgetown. It's a community gathering with Irish music dancing, and food. But now we are questioning whether we want to drive the 45 minutes each way to go there for it since we finished our tour and ended up back in Charlottetown. Maybe we will go out later to see what is happening here in town instead.
Using the computer was a problem last night. The Wi-Fi access was so slow (and sometimes non-existent) that I could barely do anything all evening. I couldn't even test the speed because the web pages for the broadband speed test sites wouldn't open. It's strange that this area of Canada--not just PEI but also Nova Scotia--so far generally has slower Internet services than I encountered in Colombia and Ecuador last fall!! The speeds I have tested seem to be only in the 5 Mbps to 20 Mbps range for downloads which is pitiful for a hotel or an apartment where others are using the same service causing that speed to be cut into 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc., as much per instrument (phone, computer, TV, etc.) connected and using the service at any given time.
We left Charlottetown around 9:30 this morning expecting to spend most of the day exploring the coast and the towns in the northeastern part of PEI. By 12:30, we were heading back in to Charlottetown. Most of the towns on the map for the province wouldn't really be qualified as towns. Many consist of maybe 3-5 houses with no businesses. Some are just an intersection with some houses in the distant area!! Georgetown, which is touted as a special town for its historical buildings, has fewer than 560 people living there and has maybe 8-10 old historical buildings with 2 of them being abandoned wooden church buildings that are falling apart. In the guidebooks, Georgetown was made to sound like a nice small city, and I even tried to make a reservation to stay there for tonight thinking it would be a good place to explore. I had trouble finding anything, so I reserved the second night here where we were already booked for last night. Today, it took us all of about 10 minutes to find every significant building, to see the port, and to read the informational signs about the history of the place.
To give a better description of PEI, it is a very rural province. There are beautiful farms everywhere, but the Charlottetown metro area is by far the largest place on the island. So far, we have found no other towns where we might want to stay. There is only one place outside the metro area with a population greater than 2000, but the whole province has only 143,000 people.
We did drive another two of the historical heritage roads today. Both again were red dirt roads. We got about halfway down one when we encountered a road grater working. We had to turn around and backtrack because the road is so narrow that the area where he was working was impassable due the narrow sections on each side of the loose raised dirt in the middle that he would later smooth out. In the second, though, we had a great trip through a beautiful wooded area with a nice stream crossing along the way.
We also came through an Amish area. The Amish are somewhat new to PEI, but they seem to have been welcomed by locals. We saw a couple of signs warning about horse buggies being on the roads, then we met an oncoming buggy with a woman and a girl in it.
We returned to Charlottetown and went to the Cows Creamery. It is been reputed to be the company that makes the best ice cream in Canada. We took their self-guided tour and then shared a cone with two dips of their favorite flavors. It is good ice cream. And it was fun seeing their t-shirts and their signs around the theme of their business.
Then we walked the Beach Grove Nature Trail between there and hour hotel. It goes through a wooded area beside the bay. The sun has been out all day, and with the wind speeds being slower than yesterday, the somewhat cold temperatures aren't bothersome. At one point, we stopped to sit on a bench in the sunshine where the trail left the woods and had green grass and yellow and purple wildflowers growing beside it.
We had intended to be out exploring in the east until evening and to attend a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) at Pooles Corner, a crossroads outside of Georgetown. It's a community gathering with Irish music dancing, and food. But now we are questioning whether we want to drive the 45 minutes each way to go there for it since we finished our tour and ended up back in Charlottetown. Maybe we will go out later to see what is happening here in town instead.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
The Cabot Trail--Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Wednesday, May 16, 2018--North Sydney to Antigonish (Via The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Island)
The weather was colder today, but it was still sunny. We have had amazing luck with sunny weather. My forehead is even sunburned. But instead of cool temperatures we have been having recently, today they were colder. I can see on the weather on TV that a low pressure system moved past us and that it is pulling a cold front down the continent.
From North Sydney, we drove westward and entered Cape Breton Highlands National Park at Ingonish. The route we followed from there (except for one short stretch) is called The Cabot Trail. It goes along the eastern coast, then across the northern part of Cape Breton, and then down the western coast. The national park covers a portion of the area enclosed by the trail loop. As we traveled along, there were wonderful views of stretches of the rugged coast, views of fishing boats out in the bays, views of bald eagles soaring in the sky, and views of the mountains ahead of us. And at one point Wes almost ran over a brown rabbit that tried to cross the road right in front of us. It is one of the world's great drives. Along the way, there are small fishing communities outside the boundaries of the park. The one place we left the trail was done to pass through a couple of those communities that the guidebook had recommended seeing--Neil's Harbor and White Point. Probably the prettiest we passed was Cheticamp. Exploring the trail was a great experience.
It took about 5 1/2 hours of driving today--leaving North Sydney, driving the trail, and then continuing to Antigonish where we are staying at the Coastal Inn--so we didn't do much else. But this evening we did go into Antigonish. We walked through the downtown area, explored the beautiful campus of St. Francis Xavier University, and walked the Antigonish Landing Nature Trail (where we saw a beaver and a bald eagle among lesser other critters.
The weather was colder today, but it was still sunny. We have had amazing luck with sunny weather. My forehead is even sunburned. But instead of cool temperatures we have been having recently, today they were colder. I can see on the weather on TV that a low pressure system moved past us and that it is pulling a cold front down the continent.
From North Sydney, we drove westward and entered Cape Breton Highlands National Park at Ingonish. The route we followed from there (except for one short stretch) is called The Cabot Trail. It goes along the eastern coast, then across the northern part of Cape Breton, and then down the western coast. The national park covers a portion of the area enclosed by the trail loop. As we traveled along, there were wonderful views of stretches of the rugged coast, views of fishing boats out in the bays, views of bald eagles soaring in the sky, and views of the mountains ahead of us. And at one point Wes almost ran over a brown rabbit that tried to cross the road right in front of us. It is one of the world's great drives. Along the way, there are small fishing communities outside the boundaries of the park. The one place we left the trail was done to pass through a couple of those communities that the guidebook had recommended seeing--Neil's Harbor and White Point. Probably the prettiest we passed was Cheticamp. Exploring the trail was a great experience.
It took about 5 1/2 hours of driving today--leaving North Sydney, driving the trail, and then continuing to Antigonish where we are staying at the Coastal Inn--so we didn't do much else. But this evening we did go into Antigonish. We walked through the downtown area, explored the beautiful campus of St. Francis Xavier University, and walked the Antigonish Landing Nature Trail (where we saw a beaver and a bald eagle among lesser other critters.
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